President Buhari meets with US Counterpart, Trump

The meeting between President Muhammadu Buhari and his U.S. counterpart, Donald Trump, showed approval for the Buhari-led administration, Nigeria’s top officials at the meeting said.

Buhari became the first sub-Saharan African leader to visit Trump at the White House for a bilateral talk that touched on security, economy, trade, investment and governance.

Presidents Donald Trump and Muhammadu Buhari

Gov. Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun said the meeting was “very fruitful, insightful and successful”, adding that it was a deep-rooted meeting. “He (Trump) showed what I would call ‘approval’ for almost all that the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is doing. “They followed what was happening, may be, in the last 20 years or so. They recognised the fact that things are tough and they appreciate the efforts of Mr President, but that there’s always room for improvement,” Amosun said. The governor said the Trump administration showed commitment and the general impression that it would support what the Nigerian government was doing. “We’re gaining a lot”.

Dino Melaye jumps out of moving police vehicle

Dino Melaye has landed in hospital after reportedly jumping out of a moving police vehicle in Abuja. 

Mr Melaye, representing Kogi West Senatorial District, submitted himself to the police earlier today. But he was being taken to Lokoja, the capital of his home state, where he is expected to be interrogated by the police in connection to a murder case and other criminal activities.

The senator is currently at Zankli Medical Centre in Utako District, Abuja, a hospital spokesperson confirmed. 

The medical official said Mr Melaye was not in critical condition, but he is suspected to have broken a vertebrae.

There were reports that the police were taking him to Lokoja to parade him alongside previously arrested suspects who have allegedly confessed to being supported by Mr Melaye.

But the Kogi police commissioner, Ali Janga, said he did not plan to arraign the senator, saying he would only convene a press briefing about the matter.

Mr Janga did not immediately say whether he would cancel his planned press conference now that Mr Melaye has apparently escaped from being taken to Lokoja.

Why we stormed Dino Melaye's House--Police

The police said on Monday night that the siege on Senator Dino Melaye’s residence was necessitated by his involvement in a case of unlawful possession of prohibited firearms.

Speaking with The Nation, the Force Deputy Spokesman, Adeniran Aremu, said: “Our action was prompted by the fact that he was invited in a case of unlawful possession of firearms and other crimes.

“The police had invited him on more than two or three occasions but he failed to honour the invitations. That is why we are there right now.

“You know when a case is in court, there is no law that stops you from further questioning if you need to answer question on the suspects.

No More Nuclear or Missile Tests: Declares North Korea’s Leader

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un said he would halt nuclear tests and intercontinental missile launches, in a Saturday announcement welcomed by US President Donald Trump ahead of a much-anticipated summit between the two men.

Pyongyang’s declaration, long sought by Washington, will be seen as a crucial step in the fast diplomatic dance on and around the Korean peninsula.

It comes less than a week before the North Korean leader meets South Korean President Moon Jae-in for a summit in the Demilitarised Zone that divides the peninsula, ahead of the eagerly-awaited encounter with Trump himself.

But Kim gave no indication Pyongyang might be willing to give up its nuclear weapons, or the missiles with which it can reach the mainland United States.

Winnie Mandela’s death, a loss to Africa –Obasanjo

Winnie Mandela

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has described the death of ex-wife of the late former South African President, Nelson Mandela, Mrs. Winnie Madikizela-Mandela, as a great loss to Africa, and not just to her immediate family.

This was contained in a condolence letter Obasanjo wrote to the South African President, Mr. Cyril Ramaphosa, released in Abeokuta on Thursday by his media aide, Kehinde Akinyemi.

Obasanjo also described her as one of the greatest women to have walked the African soil.

Benue Killings: I’m surprised IGP Idris disobeyed my directive – Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday visited Benue, saying he was ‘surprised’ that the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, disobeyed his directives to stay in Benue until the bloodletting between farmers and herdsmen was resolved.

Mr. Buhari also said his government is worried about the incessant attacks on Benue’s rural communities and vowed to end the menace “very soon”.

The president had in the wake of public outcry that greeted the murder of over 70 persons by suspected herdsmen instructed the IGP to relocate to the state and remain there guntil the carnage was contained.

The police boss had reportedly spent less than 24 hours in the state before leaving. That action sparked from Nigerians even as the presidency failed to reprimand him.

Oh! The Joy of the death of a Saint: Billy Graham, 99, Dies

Rev. Billy Graham, died on Wednesday at his home in Montreat, N.C. He was 99.

His death was confirmed by Jeremy Blume, a spokesman for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.

Mr. Graham had dealt with a number of illnesses in his last years, including prostate cancer, hydrocephalus (a buildup of fluid in the brain) and symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.

Mr. Graham spread his influence across the country and around the world through a combination of religious conviction, commanding stage presence and shrewd use of radio, television and advanced communication technologies.

A central achievement was his encouraging evangelical Protestants to regain the social influence they had once wielded, reversing a retreat from public life that had begun when their efforts to challenge evolution theory were defeated in the Scopes trial in 1925.

But in his later years, Mr. Graham kept his distance from the evangelical political movement he had helped engender, refusing to endorse candidates and avoiding the volatile issues dear to religious conservatives.

“If I get on these other subjects, it divides the audience on an issue that is not the issue I’m promoting,” he said in an interview at his home in North Carolina in 2005 while preparing for his last American crusade, in New York City. “I’m just promoting the Gospel.”

Mr. Graham’s reach was global, and he was welcomed even by repressive leaders like Kim Il-sung of North Korea, who invited him to preach in Pyongyang’s officially sanctioned churches.